Devices with resilient contact elements are typically used to clean surfaces or to apply cleaners and other materials to surfaces. For example, brush devices have bristle contact elements. The bristles are provided in the appropriate configuration and are chosen with the appropriate geometry, flexibility, hardness and resiliency to suit the intended purpose. As one example of these devices, a paintbrush is typically configured with long flexible bristles that conform to surfaces and facilitate the application of paints to surfaces. Other brush devices are configured with short rigid bristles to scour, scrub or clean surfaces.
Sponges and other absorbent materials are also used as resilient contact elements. Sponges and related materials are typically soft and used in cleaning devices and applicator devices.
Squeegees are also used in contact devices. Because squeegees are often made from non-absorbent materials, such as rubber, they are not generally used in applicator devices. Squeegees are flexible and resilient and tend to be too soft to be used in scrubbing or scouring devices. Squeegees are most commonly used to wipe or squeegee water and water solutions from smooth glass surfaces.
There have been attempts to combine the cleaning properties of an absorbent sponge-like element with a squeegee element. In the U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,890 issued to Weitz, Weitz describes a cleaning device with a squeegee element and a sponge element attached to a yoke support for combining washing and wiping.
Devices with brush-like contact elements molded form non-absorbent rubber-like materials have also been described. For example, in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,771, issued to Stroud, Stroud describes a polymeric sweeping device that is formed from a polymeric head with a soft polymeric bristle portion. In the U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,322, issued to Florsline, Florsline describes a device with a silicone tip configured to be used as a paint applicator or an artist's tool.
Molded rubber-like or resilient contact elements have also been described in dentition cleaning and oral care devices. In the U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,082 issued to Herrera, Herrera describes a device for removing adhesives from a palate. The device is configured with a plurality of rubber nodules having resiliencies that are sensitive to temperature. Tveras, in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,556, discloses an oral hygiene device configured with a plurality of wiping elements at one end of the device and a brush section at the other end; the wiping elements are configured for scraping plaque from a tongue. In the U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,684, issued to Kweon, Kweon describes a toothbrush with silicone rubber bristles. The silicone bristles are plate-shaped bristles extending in a parallel arrangement along the sides of the cleaning head. The cleaning head is attached to a handle through a hole in the handle. In the U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,416, issued to DeNiro et al., DeNiro et al. describe a resilient chewing device for cleaning teeth and gums. The device is a spool-shaped member formed of a resilient material. The interior regions of the spool-shaped member have protrusions to facilitate the cleaning of gums and teeth when a user chews on the device. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,564, issued to Inns et al., describes bristle sections that are coupled through an elastomeric bridge. The elastomeric bridge provides for the ability to anchor sets of bristles that are attached to a flexible platform. Mori et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,021,541, describe a toothbrush with composite monofiliment fibers. The composite monofiliment fibers have a polyester sheath with 2-5 polyamide cores. The polyamide cores protrude from the composite cores by a predetermined distance.